Bido Lito June 2021 Issue 114

therefore they stagnate the art scene,” Knox explains,
restricting affordability, accessibility and creative freedom.
Artists need space, either for temporary exhibitions and
performances, or as studio space and “the more central
spaces can be, the more visible independent artists can
be”, Patrick Kirk-Smith emphasises, allowing them to be
seen and heard. However, as Liverpool has developed and
become more attractive, artists are increasingly unable to
access affordable city centre spaces, or are exploited as
temporary solutions to reviving vacant or disused buildings
before being “systematically forced out”. “Everything is
monetised now,” Knox laments. “Buildings are bought and
they’re sat on… A lot of the buildings that were potentially
useful and could have been for artists to go into are no
longer available, because people see them as potential to
make money. They can’t see the bigger picture.”
During its history, Road Studios has faced two
evictions, a High Court ruling and constant uncertainty in
the fight to retain its city centre location on Victoria Street.
“[The property owners] systematically moved the goal
posts by taking away access to the building, it was literally
a building site… It got to the point where they actually
smashed the toilets as tenants were still in the building.”
Sadly, in 2019, Road was evicted and forced out of the
city centre, securing a space in the Baltic’s Northern Lights
building. Knox believes that property developers “play the
white knight”, purporting to support artist studios and
provide them with space, only to abandon them once a
more profitable option surfaces. The experience of Road
Studios encapsulates the situation facing artist studios
across the city and the hostile environment they face.
Artists recognise and champion their ability to
“add value to space” and “enrich communities”, as Faye
Hamblett-Jones explains, reviving the communities they
exist within. “Artist studios anchor creative people, art
and cultural activity in their neighbourhood,” as a report
from the National Federation of Artists’ Studios Providers
from 2014 indicates. In addition to providing local
amenities in the forms of cafés, workspaces and events or
workshops, the presence of artist studios creates a sense
of ‘something happening’, piercing through the stagnancy
that often dominates forgotten communities. “Artists
have [always] been used as a catalyst for regeneration,”
Knox acknowledges; however, artist studios want to be
seen as a permanent part of the city’s infrastructure, not
simply used to develop an area before being outpriced,
abandoned and marginalised.
Liverpool is a city that understands more than most
the power of culture to stimulate regeneration and
transform city landscapes. In recent years, invigorated by
the success of 2008, Liverpool has positioned culture as
a primary driver of revival and growth, defining itself as a
‘creative city’. This has transformed external perceptions,
reflected in the development of the tourism and leisure
industry, which was worth £4.9 billion in 2018. The
continuing relevance of this approach is epitomised today
in Liverpool City Region’s ‘Cultural Compact Strategic
Action Plan 2021-2026’ released earlier this year, which
positions culture as a dominant force in the city’s recovery
from the pandemic and in the economy over the next five
years. During an era in which many local authorities have
cut cultural provision and funding, Liverpool City Council’s
commitment to culture is commendable and the report
does emphasise the need for “inclusive growth”.
However, there is a sense among Liverpool’s artistic
community that they are continually exploited for
economic gain in the name of regeneration. “[Artists]
are always exploited,” Patrick Kirk-Smith states flatly.
Liverpool’s narrative of a creative city is potentially
damaging if culture is valued disproportionately for its
economic or regenerative potential, rather than for its
inherent non-commercial value.
This potential damage
is reflected in the recent
revelations of the Caller
Report, which revealed the
City Council’s “dysfunctional
management”, particularly
within its Regeneration,
Planning and Property
Management Departments,
and resulted in the deployment
of government commissioners
to oversee these departments
for the next three years. For
Liverpool’s artist studios, it is proof of the “systemic”
methods through which they have been exploited for
regeneration projects and the profit motive which has
dictated the city’s development, granting lucrative
development contracts and failing to prioritise communities.
Only time will tell whether the arrival of the
commissioners will limit the Council’s ambitions or
agency over Liverpool’s cultural strategy. However, one
thing remains clear: if Liverpool is to avoid the continuing
marginalisation and depletion of its artistic communities, it
must re-evaluate its use of urban space. Thankfully, artists
already have the solution – a utopian vision of a different
kind of city.
Max Mallender laughs when asked how he would
solve the problems facing Liverpool’s artist studios. It is
a resigned, knowing laugh, acknowledging the simplicity
of the solution but the difficult of actually enacting it.
“Property developers
dictate the art
scene, and therefore
they stagnate the
arts scene”
It encapsulates the situation facing artist studios in
Liverpool. They are tired. Tired of explaining themselves
continuously, tired of the same resurfaced issues, tired of
asking for support. Tired of knowing exactly how to solve
problems but lacking the power to achieve solutions. “If I
could solve the problems,” Max says, “I’d use all the empty
commercial space and all the empty retail space in the city
and I’d give it to [artists] to do stuff with.”
High streets are dying; empty façades stare out like
glazed eyes onto deserted pavements. Rather than this
apocalyptic scene, imagine if artists inhabited these empty
spaces. “Imagine if the high street changed, imagine if
every couple of months there was something different in
X space or Y space. There would be a constant draw for
people to come into the city,” Max enthuses. Patrick Kirk-
Smith agrees that “one day the experience of a high street
needs to change – it needs to not be about ‘big culture’.
It needs to be local, and community-led, and artists are
ideally placed to do that”. Faye Hamblett-Jones imagines
“open spaces where the public can come and engage with
art and artists”. Commercial
spaces are inherently exclusive,
dictating access based on
economic status. Artistic
spaces are democratic and
inclusive, inviting people in for
no other purpose than presence
and participation. These are
the kind of spaces that should
define Liverpool – those that
facilitate conversation and
creation, that compel and entice
interactions between disparate
people and ideas.
This utopian image of a dynamic and responsive
Liverpool city space is enticing, interspersing art and
creativity with other aspects of urban life. A diverse
ecology of art, retail, work and leisure where ordinariness
clashes against artistry – a buzzing metropolis which is
inclusive and inviting. This is what creates a fertile and
explosive culture. A tidal wave of creativity in the city
centre, honouring Liverpool’s coastal identity; an ebbing,
flowing, evolving city which keeps everyone afloat. This is
what is at stake. This is what can be saved. !
Words: El Gray / @Just__El
Illustration: John O’Loughlin / @jolworkshop
To read the full State Of The Studios report visit
studio-network-merseyside.co.uk
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